Sponsored Content

Promote This Nonprofit

Nonprofit Overview

Mission: We are the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service at Saguaro, with the mission to help preserve, protect and enhance the fragile environment and unique cultural heritage of the Sonoran Desert at Saguaro National Park by promoting citizen and corporate stewardship through philanthropy, volunteerism, advocacy and public education.

Community Stories

159 Stories from Volunteers, Donors & Supporters

Share experience with this nonprofit today

I support the Friends because they provide crucial funding for so many park programs. I'm a big fan of the education and community outreach programs of the Park. One of these in particular, the Next Gen Ranger program is really having an influence on the pipeline of future National Park Service employees, introducing young adults from diverse backgrounds to possible career opportunities.

I have been a loyal donor to Friends for many years because they are a trustworthy, innovative and high-impact nonprofit. I know that my contributions are appreciated and make a significant difference to help support a place I love to visit, Saguaro National Park.

Friends of Saguaro continues its close working relationship with the Park staff, allowing it to leverage its resources for the greatest impact. Friends is committed to expanding exposure to Saguaro National Park to underserved communities and students. Friends is extremely cost-efficient with only one paid staff member, allowing it to maximize its funding of projects in the Park.

Previous Stories

After several years as a board member, I continue to be pleased and impressed with the work of FOSNP. The group, and especially the executive director, gets so much done with quite little in terms of staff and costs. FOSNP is always looking for ways to leverage its efforts in fundraising while staying an unwavering supporter of education, research and the park staff.

I've been involved with FOSNP for seven years and the group has proven to be extremely efficient and effective in supporting Saguaro National Park. The working relationship with Park staff is outstanding.

FOSNP has a great relationship with the park leadership and staff and is in tune with the challenges facing the park. Both are dedicated to making the park an asset to the community and it is an effective partnership.

I recently joined the Board after years of enjoying the park. The Friends, through the leadership of the executive director, support a wide range of issues and works in great cooperation with the NPS staff. Facilities and trail improvement, educational programs, buffelgrass removal and the cactus census are just osme of the areas the Friends are involved with.

FOSNP is a fantastic organization that helps protect and support Saguaro National Park. The Friends group also spends tremendous effort and resources to help connect the Arizona community to this desert treasure.

Serving as a board member has enabled me to see how FOSNP interacts directly with staff from Saguaro National Park, our Tucson community, and sister organizations with respect and sensitivity to their needs and desires. FOSNP has consistently kept its costs well under control while focussing on supporting the mission of SNP. Also, over time, our friends group has developed innovative solutions to help bring diversity into the park service as well as in its community of supporters.

Previous Stories

We have experienced Saguaro National Park for many years and saw the direct benefits provided through the partnership with the Friends group. Now, as a board member, I am able to see first hand how well the partnership works. Through a transparent, cost efficient fund raising, FOSNP is able to help the park with critical studies and updated experiences for visitors. FOSNP is also helping, through a progressive short term jobs program, with introducing under-served members of the Tucson community with a valuable experience working in the park directly with senior park staff.

Friends of SNP has an excellent partnership with the park staff allowing them to take the lead in determining what is best for the park. FOSNP recognizes its role is to provide resources in areas that best support the park. The fundraising techniques used are cost effective and ensure the most benefits accrue to the park itself.

As an employee at Saguaro National Park I can attest to the fantastic assistance Friends of Saguaro National Park generates. There are many wonderful projects we are able to complete due to their support, such as building our volunteer program and accomplishments through their support of providing funds to hire a volunteer coordinator, hiring youth from the community to conduct resource surveys, and so much more. We are fortunate to have such a fabulous partner.

Friends of Saguaro National Park provides financial support that enables Saguaro national park to reach many youth in the Tucson area. One special program takes place at the University of Arizona Medical Center's Diamond Children's Center. Park Rangers and volunteers invite the young patients and their families to participate in a Junior Ranger program at the hospital. Children learn about what makes up a national park, stories about the Sonoran Desert and are sworn in as Junior Rangers. Thanks to the Friends of Saguaro, the children take a small stuffed animal, coloring book and crayons back to their rooms. We have experienced many touching moments during this program and we want to thank our Friends for their support.

Previous Stories

I am an employee at Saguaro national Park and have been here 20+ years. Our park gretaly benefits from the work done by the Friends of Saguaro National Park.

One of the areas that the Friends raise funding for is the park's environmental education program. Thanks to their efforst, many more schools are able to come to the park for a visit through the Friends being able to pay for the school buses. Frinds of Saguaro National Park also raised funds to build an education ramada at the park's Rincon Mountain District (East). Each year, this site hosts hndreds of elementary school children participating in hands-on fieldtrips.

The most impressive thing about our Friends of Saguaro National Park is their can-do spirit. They go out of their way to assist us in what we'd like to accomplh here at the p[ark.

Without the FSNP my school would not be able to get our students out to the Park because our hiking club would not be possible. FSNP enables me to run a hiking club that sends about 20 students in grades 4-6 every year to learn how to be citizen scientists and park stewards using their backyard resource (SNP). Through this program, the students have been able to go through the complete program all three years and have more recently bridged into another aspect of their "training". I can't thank the Fiends enough for their generous support year after year.

The Friends of Saguaro National Park provides funding for the Teacher Ranger program. I have had the privilege of being a Teacher Ranger for several years and have led a hiking club consisting of 4th and 5th graders who most likely would never have had the opportunity to experience and explore the beautiful desert areas surrounding Tucson. The benefits of this program are everlasting!

As a park employee I have worked closely with the Friends of Saguaro National Park for many years. With out a doubt, our programs for Tucson youth would be greatly reduced without their support. Both the past and current executive directors and their board are sensitive to park needs and do an incredible job funding major projects, providing transportation for youth to visit the park, and implementing the transformational Next Generation Ranger Corps program, providing us fantastic interns who help support our programming and increase opportunities for Tucson youth to explore the park. I have seen the awe on the faces of urban youth exploring the park at night by the full moon. Thank you Friends of Saguaro National Park for support, passion, and commitment!

Previous Stories

As a park ranger and environmental education specialist at Saguaro National Park I have worked closely with the Friends of Saguaro National Park for a number of years and can testify that without their passion, commitment, and charitable support, thousands of young people from Tucson would not have had the opportunity to explore the wilds of Saguaro Natioanal Park and to make thier own personal connection to nature. Executive Director Bob Newtson and his team of "Friends" clearly understands the mission of the park, shares our goals and objectives, and works closely with us to provide fantastic opportunities for the youth of Tucson to explore their backyard National Park. The Friends of Saguaro National Park are an outstanding park partner!

As a direct recipient of the effort and support of the Friends of Saguaro National Park I find their contributions, responsiveness, and commitment to supporting education and tomorrow's park stewards to be essential to the programs we offer. Without their support opportunities for urban youth and their families to connect to the park would be drastically reduced. Managing the Environmental Education Program at the park allows me the opportunity to see first hand the impact and impressions made upon the thousands of children who are able to visit the park each year. These visits allow them to make a deep personal connection to this incredible resource and to expand their horizons. I can say unequivocally that over the last 17 years, the Friends of Saguaro National Park has grown holistically as a supportive non-profit organization and that directly through their efforts, the park has significantly increased quality programing and outreach efforts, assisting the park in reaching tens of thousands of children that would otherwise never had the opportunity to personally experience one of America's greatest wonders. It is my honor to work directly with such an incredible group of people as are the "Friends".

I am proud to serve on the board of this organization, which efficiently and effectively raises money to support education, research, and stewardship at Saguaro National Park. In particular, the project that supports Next Generation rangers as local young people do work in the park and get a head start on their careers has changed lives.

Previous Stories

This Friends group does a great service in helping the park with volunteers and financial support. I enjoy working with the effective board and knowledgeable staff, which is in great communication with Park staff. If you like Saguaro National Park, this group is where your support can do the most good.

The Friends of Saguaro National Park is able to involve seniors, students, visitors and others in protecting and enhancing this park, a national treasure. It has generated support for such on-the-ground items as benches, trails, environmental education ramada; has organized volunteer activities, including removal of invasive buffelgrass; and let's supporters know of how they can be involved in the park, such as the new trails plan.

Not only is the Saguaro National Park a haven for the animals and plants of the desert, but it exceeds in Southwestern beauty. The Friends of Saguaro National Park Inc. aid in the preservation of the park and the education of the young to old. The visitations to children in the hospital brings this experience to those that are not physically able.

Saguaro National Park is a true Tucson and national treasure. My husband and I have spent many hours running and biking the trails and enjoying the pristine beauty of the park. I was also fortunate enough to be a volunteer artist for the Rincon Visitor Center donor wall and, through that experience, learned to appreciate the park's diverse fauna and flora even more. The annual Fundraiser at Tanque Verde Ranch is a fun and tasty affair, featuring artwork, vacations, and many other products and services that can be purchased at attractive prices, with the proceeds supporting such a worthwhile cause. The work that the Park does to ensure that this habitat remains preserved for future generations is invaluable.

Saquaro is a treasure for all who visit, I think of her when I am far away. Theprogramming for youth, community and volunteers is outstanding! Serving ten thousand plus students is a huge yearly accomplishment. Thank you for lending your support today, for our future. Emily Sullivan

My husband and I have been hiking, biking, and running in this park for the past 40 years. We feel very fortunate to have such an amazing place in our backyard. We attend FOSNP's annual fundraiser, because of the critical support that they provide to Saguaro National Park. FOSNP is the community's link to a partnership with this special place that we all want to preserve.

I've had the privilege to be part of this board for the last several years. I'm happy to be part of an organization that is so well organized and well run. The best part is that it benefits some very key national parks right here in Tucson.

You know an organization is good when people over 2,600 miles away from the park it helps to support have donated for nearly a decade. We first visited Saguaro on a cross-country motorcycle trip in 2008, and we have been back many times. This is a very well-run park, with a wonderful staff and FOSP to support their work. They are admirable stewards of the land and the wildlife that depend on it. We will support them for the rest of our lives.

Previous Stories

We first visited Saguaro in 2005 on a cross country motorcycle trip. We have donated to the Friends ever since that time, and have also visited the park two additional times from our home state of Vermont, always impressed with the initiatives they have wisely undertaken to help the park's flora and fauna deal with the combined effects of long-term drought, overuse of local water resources, global climate change, and shortfalls in federal funding. They leave no stone unturned, and their efforts from "Adopt a Saguaro" to fundraising auctions to the encouragement of volunteerism have born fruit. We applaud their initiative and the positive results they have brought. All of us benefit.

FOSNP are a wonderful group of folks working hard to preserve such a special park. I have donated several times over the past decade, and Bob has always been incredibly helpful to me and my family members who have donated. I'm a big fan of the park, the volunteers and FOSNP

I'm a relatively new donor from out of state. In 2015 I adopted a tortoise for a friend. In 2016 I adopted another tortoise and a saguaro for two friends. Both times I called on phone and spoke to a very friendly and knowledgeable person (I think it may have been the director!) about the land protection and animal education programs my donation supports. I am so impressed with the dedication and professionalism of this organization. I will keep giving and supporting the desert I love and grew up in. I hike in SNP when I visit home, and it is the most wonderful, restorative experience. Thanks to the Friends for keeping it wonderful!